Avoiding ticks and the dangers they pose to your pets and family means learning to avoid contact with them whenever possible. Our pet coupons offer savings on products like  to help protect your pet from both ticks and fleas. Also, a good program of inspection and removal is helpful, as is making your grounds less hospitable to ticks. Here’s some more advice on how to avoid ticks by creating a tick-free zone in your yard where your family and pets can enjoy the outdoors with less likelihood of exposure to ticks.

Remember that ticks cannot fly, nor can they jump, so in order for a tick to attach or bite we have to make direct contact with them where they live. This gives us a great advantage in reducing the possibility of being a victim on our own property. It may not be possible to create a 100% guarantee against ticks in a particular area, but the following practices will reduce tick populations dramatically, and will keep the vast majority of them in areas where your family is less likely to make accidental contact.

Ticks and their primary hosts need humidity, shade and cover to survive. When we take away those three things, it makes the area much less hospitable to them. We want to create areas in the yard for our families and pets to enjoy that lack those essential elements, and set a border area between them and any dense foliage or other welcoming spot. Your tick-free zone should be kept trim, free of refuse, and allow plenty of sunlight if possible. Here are some specific steps to take.

• Keep your lawn clipped.
• Keep leaves raked and the area free of brush, thick grass clippings, etc.
• Limit rodent populations by keeping stone walls and wood piles free from brush and leaves piled up around them, and by keeping stone walls sealed and in good repair. Keep any wood piles, bird and animal feeders, etc., away from the house and out of the tick-free zone.
• Trim trees and shrubs around the lawn perimeter to let in more sunlight.
• Use landscaping materials such as wood chips, mulches and gravel to create pathways and play areas, and to create borders between the lawn and stonewalls or more densely grown or wooded areas.
• You might consider organic or chemical pesticides if you have an actual infestation. Consult your local lawn and garden center or a pest control expert for advice and be sure to read and follow all label directions and warnings if you decide to apply such products yourself.

The main thing to keep in mind is that if you create outdoor areas that are at a distance from environments that are hospitable to ticks and their primary hosts, and keep your family and pets to those areas as much as possible, you can greatly reduce your likelihood of contact with the pests and the misery they can inflict.